1,720,971 research outputs found
The pursuit of good microbiological conditions in domestic softeners: a new improvement.
Full text linkEffective resin disinfection is mandatory to ensure the microbiological quality of water treated by
domestic softeners. The wet and sometimes warm environment inside the softener is ideal for
bacteria growth. Our research was focused on the evaluation of the microbial quality of water from
softeners sanitized by chlorine solutions or by electrolytic systems. We employed the heterotrophic
plate count and specific tests to monitor the presence of opportunistic and pathogenic bacteria
(Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, enterococci, and coliforms). Completely new devices
were equipped with a commercially available electrolytic system or with a newly patented one or
sanitized by automatic or manual addition of chlorine solutions. In all cases, the contamination was
reduced, not completely avoided. In particular, the patented electrolytic system significantly reduced
bacterial proliferation in strongly contaminated devices. Our data confirm the difficulties
encountered to solve the problem of microbiological quality of softened water and offer encouraging
information on new possible solution
Bioindicators and biomonitoring: honeybees and hive products as pollution impact assessment tools for the Mediterranean area
Full text linkThe global range of the environmental quality issues we all face necessitates integrated action from all of the countries that
sufer from a particular environmental issue. We must be able to obtain data on the presence of pollutants and their efects
on biota from any territory, regardless of its environmental, infrastructural, social, and economic conditions. Biomonitoring
utilizes organisms and natural materials to obtain this information. In particular, the honeybee is a ubiquitous, easy-to-breed
organism with great mobility. Its body, which is covered with hairs, picks up materials and particulates that it encounters
in the environment. Therefore, bees are highly efective accumulators of materials from the soil, vegetation, air, and water.
These characteristics mean that the honeybee is both a bioindicator and a passive bioaccumulator organism, making it an
ideal agent for easily monitoring vast areas inexpensively, even in regions where infrastructure is scarce. In this short review,
we summarize the main targets of the honeybee-based monitoring campaigns that have been carried out to date, highlighting
the results obtained in assessments of organic and inorganic pollution performed by coupling more modern technologies with
this long-standing practice. It is hoped that this review will make scientists more aware of the incredible potential of these
delicate organisms to provide data that could prove useful in the management of environmental issues
Airborne particulate matter biotoxicity estimated by chemometric analysis on bacterial luminescence data
No full textIn this work, PM10 samples previously subjected to thorough chemical speciation and receptor modelling, have been investigated for their bio-toxicity using an inhibition test based on bacterial luminescence modulation when in contact with airborne particulate samples. The variation of light emission intensity from a luminescent bacteria strain, the Photobacterium phosphoreum, is proposed as an efficient proxy for the quantification of bio-toxic effects induced by airborne particulate matter. PM10 samples characterized by definite levels of pollutants from the pertaining air shed were found to induce a decrease in the bacterial bioluminescence intensity, expressed as percentage of Inhibition Ratio (IR%). This behaviour suggests the decay of this energy-consuming activity because of a toxic effect. Cluster analysis on chemical composition and IR% data provides evidence of a statistically significant association between the adverse effects on living cells and the range of specific chemical species in PM10
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
- …
